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BRIGHTON — Sipping on a cup of tea as he strolls around the Brighton & Hove Albion museum at the Amex Stadium on a hazy afternoon in southern England, Glenn Murray is taking a trip down memory lane.

He and Brighton have been through a heck of a lot. Most of it together.

The 35-year-old English striker didn’t play in the Premier League until he hit 30, spending most of his career in the lower leagues of England and North America, sniffing out goals and bullying defenses wherever he went. The long and winding road has led him from the far north of England to the far south, as he now has 107 goals for Brighton and is the second-highest goalscorer in club history.

Ahead of Brighton’s clash with Southampton this Saturday (Watch live, 11 a.m. ET on CNBC and online via NBCSports.com), Murray is aiming to continue his incredible return to the South Coast with the Seagulls.

“The period since I signed for the second time, it has just been a non-stop upwards curve. The progression of the club has just been phenomenal,” Murray said. “The club that I left in my first spell to the club I left in my second spell. Wow. I was away for five years, before I left we were training at a University campus. Getting changed in three separate dressing rooms. Playing second fiddle to the University teams if they wanted to use the fields. They had the say so. To be honest, the fields were rubbish. Going to play the games at the Withdean with the running track around… the away fans might as well have sat on the beach because they couldn’t see anything!

“To come back to this stadium, I always enjoyed playing here as a visiting player, sometimes you just get that feeling for places. You just enjoy playing there and somewhere you feel comfortable. To come back and score like I have is perfect. Behind that we have a state-of-the-art training facility, you couldn’t have dreamt it when we were back getting changed in those three dressing rooms. You would have just settled for one flat pitch!”

Murray is as laidback scoring goals in the Premier League against the big boys as he is sat on a sofa in sneakers on his off-day chatting about every facet of the game. It is clear soccer runs through his blood.

Growing up close to the Lake District in the far north west of England, he fell in love with the game. From the start.

“Everyone just plays football, don’t they? It is just part of life in England. Once I started I just totally got the bug and never lost it,” Murray smiled. “I can remember running around on my local green, the players I wanted to be were like [Eric] Cantona, [Georgi] Kinkladze, Uwe Rosler — I loved Rosler, he scored all the time — and from that time I started going to camps in my holidays and things like that. I supposed I was just blessed that I was quite good at it. And then it just went from strength to strength.”

He is now heralded as a throwback to the English center forwards of a bygone generation. But it hasn’t always been this way. The trajectory of Murray’s career has been remarkable.

It all began at Workington Reds, an amateur team, after he was released by Carlisle United as a youth team player. As a teenager, Murray was thrown in at the deep end and his physical style of play perhaps comes from the harsh lessons he learned in the small towns of northern England.

“We were in the seventh or eighth tier of English football then. As a young kid, that was rough. Really rough,” Murray smiled. “You are maybe dancing around a few older guys that didn’t like it, they would let you know about it… physically and mentally. Throughout my career it has just been brilliant. Every step I have taken something from it. I’ve enjoyed every step.”

(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

A spell in the third-tier of North American soccer with the Wilmington Hammerheads (where he won a championship ring) was the springboard for Murray’s career, as he returned to the UK with a renewed love for the game. Even if others didn’t take a chance on him, Murray had faith in himself and scored goals for Carlisle, Rochdale and Stockport before he got his move to third-tier Brighton (for the first time) in 2007. His goals at their temporary home at the Withdean Stadium led Brighton to promotion to the second-tier, and joining the Seagulls was the catalyst to him reaching the top-flight.

Did he ever think he wouldn’t make it to the top after the first decade of his career was spent playing outside of the Premier League?

“Yeah, definitely. I felt around that 27, 28 age, the only way I was going to get to the Premier League was to be promoted into it. Thankfully that happened. I never really felt as though a team would put a large amount of money on the line for me,” Murray said. “I think there have always been question marks over me, throughout my career. Probably because I am quite an old-fashioned center forward and at every level people have said ‘he won’t do it at the next level, he won’t do it at the next.’ Given the opportunity I have managed to prove myself to people.”

Murray’s steely determination saw him do something many wouldn’t. Brighton’s fierce rivals are Crystal Palace, so when Murray left Brighton for Palace in 2011, just a few months after he led Brighton to promotion to the second-tier with 22 goals, there was huge controversy. That was just the start.

His 30 goals in the 2012-13 season led Palace to promotion to the Premier League, just to rub extra salt in the wounds of Brighton’s fans. But then, a horrible moment arrived. Murray snapped his ACL playing for Palace against Brighton in the Championship playoff semifinal back in 2013 and he was out for 10 months. The irony of injuring himself against the Seagulls isn’t lost on Murray, and he admitted he has thought on several occasions that his career was over.

But he keeps bouncing back.

“I’ve thought ‘this is the end’ on a number of occasions. That being one. Definitely,” Murray said. “Some people, their bodies can withstand it. I had to change not so much my game, but my lifestyle. The work I do off the field, it is now like 300 percent more. Diet comes in to it as I’ve got older. I work on stabilizing my knees, my ankles, the ACL knee obviously. I continue to do leg weights. Touch wood, I’ve never had any more problems with it.”

(Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

After Palace short stops at Bournemouth, in the Premier League, and Reading followed, but Murray jumped at the chance to return to Brighton in 2016.

The Seagulls were in the second-tier but Murray returned, initially on loan in 2016-17, and scored 26 goals to lead them to promotion to the Premier League for the first time in their history.

“That stupid saying went through my mind over and over. ‘You should never go back’ and all of that. Obviously I had great times here before I left. Everything just seemed perfect to come back. I always felt like I had unfinished business with the club. Got promoted out of League One. Top goalscorer. Brand new stadium. I left,” Murray said. “And, I always felt I wanted to test myself in the Amex Stadium and wanted to play at the Championship level or higher for the club. It always felt right to come back. The year before I came back I watched Brighton a lot because they were on TV a lot and pushing for promotion. I watched their players and studied them. Anthony Knockaert, Jiri Skalak and Solly March, all very, very good wingers I felt I could work with and would help me score goals.

“I sat and went over this in my mind. It was a big help that my family lived here. My kids were at school. But there is always that nagging doubt that you come back and it doesn’t work out. Your kids can get a hard time at school, saying ‘your dad is rubbish!’ and things like that. No kid should have to deal with that. But that is how big football is here. All of these nagging doubts ate away at me. I sat down and weighed up the pros and cons and said let’s do it and make it a success. I couldn’t have wished for it to be any better.”

Murray admitted he took a financial gamble to leave PL side Bournemouth to return to Brighton, but it was more of “an educated gamble” as he felt they could make it to the promised land of the Premier League.

Murray has scored 23 goals in 64 PL appearances over the past two seasons, which has led to many saying Gareth Southgate should call him up for the England national team.

“I have never heard anything. It would have been nice. You never know, I suppose,” Murray said about a potential call-up. “Gareth Southgate has gone in to England with his philosophy and nobody can deny he is working a wonder. It is enjoyable to watch our national team again. I for one sat down in the summer and enjoyed every minute of it [the 2018 World Cup]. It is what it is. I am just enjoying seeing the boys doing well.”

Asked if he is a better natural replacement for England captain and goalscoring sensation Kane than any other strikers in the current Three Lions player pool, Murray chuckles and dishes out another self-deprecating barb.

“I’m just 40 percent less than him on every count!” Murray laughed. “He [Kane] is phenomenal. He has shown that season after season. I don’t think Southgate has got anybody like-for-like, or similar shall we say, but I don’t think there is a like-for-like out there on the planet, at a similar age. I don’t think you have anybody in the squad who has similar attributes to Kane in the squad. Southgate knows what he is doing. You just never know in football. I’ve learned that over a long career in football. It may come. It may never come. You just don’t know.”

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Taking a glance at the varnished wooden board in the museum which has a list of every Brighton player to ever play on the international stage while at the club, Murray lists through the names of those who have come before him. Both Ireland and Scotland previously enquired about Murray’s eligibility to play for them, but it wasn’t possible.

What he has proved is that the impossible is possible.

From Workington Reds to Carlisle United. Rochdale to Brighton via Stockport. Crystal Palace to Reading and Bournemouth. And, of course, back to Brighton. His journey epitomizes what is possible when you have belief in your own ability and never, ever, give up.

“I just always wanted to prove myself. I always wanted my peers to respect me and to enjoy playing with me and wanting to play with me. And any doubters out there, just prove them wrong,” Murray said. “It is just all about that hunger really, of wanting to succeed. For me, wanting to scoring goals. That has never changed, and for me it will never diminish.”

That hunger, and those goals, mean a section in Brighton & Hove Albion’s museum will be dedicated to Murray. He’s not in there yet, but there’s a nice blank section right in the center waiting for him.

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No wonder Thomas Tuchel was in such a jovial mood regarding his job security yesterday.

Paris Saint-Germain announced on Saturday that it has handed manager Thomas Tuchel a one-year contract extension, pushing the expiration of his contract to the summer of 2021. The addition extends his initial two-year deal he signed last summer when he joined the club after leaving Borussia Dortmund.

The news is somewhat surprising given that Tuchel had come under fire for PSG’s struggles down the stretch of the season, first with the club’s elimination from the Champions League in the Round of 16, and then for the failures down the stretch of the domestic campaign. It took weeks to formally clinch the league title as the team skidded through April, and the club fell to Stade Rennes in the final of the Coupe de France. Still, according to a number of reports, the deal was signed back in March making the end to the season irrelevant.

The German boss was able to joke about his future after PSG’s season-ending defeat to Stade de Reims on Friday, laughing at reporters who asked about his job security heading into the summer, “Honestly, I am worried… I get the impression that everybody knows something that I do not!”

Less than 24 hours later, news of his extension was official. “The entire Paris Saint-Germain family is delighted to see Thomas Tuchel extend his contract ,” said PSG chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi. “For a year now, Thomas has been bringing fantastic energy every day, not only to players, but to the entire club.”

Ultimately, PSG won the Ligue 1 crown handily, ending the season with a 16-point cushion. The first half of the season was an unmitigated success, starting the league season on a 14-match winning streak and not suffering a single loss until early February. They also performed well in the Champions League, losing just once in a very difficult Group C that featured Liverpool, Napoli, and Red Star Belgrade. The costly slip came against Manchester United where they fell 3-1 in the second leg at home despite a 2-1 first-leg advantage.

Tuchel’s extension also comes with its head-scratchers, as the German was critical of club hierarchy after Friday’s defeat. He hit out at the front office for allowing Neymar to leave the club early to join up with the Brazilian national team, with the 27-year-old suspended for the final match of the year. “No, Neymar has not been released,” Tuchel said when asked about Neymar’s absence from the squad. “In any case, he has not by me. It is not a sporting thing, so I do not know. You will have to ask the club.”

“Correct, this season has had its problems,” Tuchel continued later. “The goal moving forward has to be to stay more focused. That goes for the team, as well as the club. We must be stricter and pull in the same direction to achieve our goals.”

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Atlanta United dropped its second straight match, this time in gut-wrenching fashion, as Jefferson Savarino scored a 94th minute winner to hand Real Salt Lake a 2-1 win over Frank De Boer‘s bunch.

Josef Martinez appeared to have rescued Atlanta with his 78th minute equalizer, cancelling out Sebastian Saucedo’s first-half opener, but Savarino struck a blistering stunner from outside the box with the minimum three minutes of added time already passed. Savarino used straight muscle to shield a charging Leandro Gonzalez Pires off the ball, and the strike punished Brad Guzan for creeping just inches too far towards his near post.

The late winner redeemed a Real Salt Lake defense that fell asleep just a fraction too early on Martinez’s goal, as a low cross from Franco Escobar should have been easily dealt with, but the Venezuelan waited for the right moment and pounced in front of a snoozing Justin Glad to poke home the delivery.

While the two sides split the possession, RSL out-shot Atlanta and held the lead most of the way after Bofo put them in front just past the half-hour mark. The 22-year-old was given way too much space just outside the top of the box and placed a curler past Guzan for the opener for his second goal in two weeks.

The win gave RSL its third straight victory in what has become a streaky season. The campaign so far features two winning streaks and two losing streaks through 13 matches, with just one draw among the group. For Atlanta, the second straight loss leaves them stuck in fourth, squandering the chance to pass third-placed Montreal who sits a just point ahead.

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A Jonathan dos Santos howitzer was enough to give the LA Galaxy a 1-0 win over Orlando City at home to move them into third place in the Western Conference standings.

The win not only boosted the Galaxy back up the standings but also stopped a brutal four-game losing skid that had threatened to erase the fabulous winning start to the season. It marks the club’s first clean sheet since a 0-0 draw with Minnesota United in late April.

The winner came in the 19th minute, a blast for his second goal of the season and first since mid March.

The clean sheet did not come easily. Dave Bingham stopped a Nani penalty in the 32nd minute after dos Santos tackled Sebastian Mendez in the area. Perry Kitchen – off the bench for his 2019 debut – was on hand to clear off the line after Bingham whiffed on a 68th minute Sacha Kljestan cross, while Bingham came up big three minutes later to stop a header by Chris Mueller off a corner.

Los Angeles’s victory moves them to 25 points, one behind Seattle who has a game in hand, and two ahead of Houston who has played three fewer games. For Orlando, they remain on 15 points, good for 10th in the East.

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Paris Saint-Germain’s late-season stumble came to a final conclusion on Friday as the Parisian giants lost to Stade de Rimes 3-1 on the road to close out the Ligue 1 season.

Kylian Mbappe scored in the 59th minute, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Baba Rahman, Mathieu Cafaro, and Pablo Chavarria all who found the back of the net for the hosts. The loss marks PSG’s third in the final seven weeks of the season, and fourth in the last 10. They had not lost a single league match all season until a 2-1 result against Lyon in early February, the first of five eventual league defeats.

PSG finished the year 16 points atop the league table, but having wrapped up the title weeks ago, the club’s poor finish to the year could weigh on Thomas Tuchel’s job security moving forward. Tuchel responded to continued questions about his precarious position with a joke, saying, “Honestly, I am worried… I get the impression that everybody knows something that I do not!”

Still, the bright spot was Mbappe’s goal, his 33rd of the league campaign, the most for any Frenchman in the domestic top-flight since 1966.

Elsewhere, second-placed Lille saw an eight-match unbeaten streak come to a close as they fell on the final day of the season to Stade Rennes by a 3-1 scoreline. Loic Remy scored a 35th minute equalizer for Lille but Ismaila Sarr’s 59th minute strike proved the difference, while M’Baye Niang’s second of the day – a 75th minute penalty – added icing on the cake. Still, Lille’s season is considered an unabashed success, finishing 16 points back of PSG and three above third-placed Lyon to qualify for the Champions League group stage.

Lyon saw victory on the road to close out the season thanks to a 91st minute winner from Tanguy Ndombele who gave the visitors a 3-2 win at Nimes. A second goal from Maxwel Cornet had brought Lyon level just two minutes prior, and Ndobele’s near-post flick on a Leo Dubois cross completed the comeback win. They finish safely in third, ending the season on a six-game unbeaten streak with five wins in that span. Two games in early April – losses to 20th-placed Dijon and 15th-placed Nantes – likely cost them a shot at second place.

Monaco is safely in the top flight next season, but barely, as they fell at Nice 2-0 on the final day to finish just two points above the relegation zone. They finish with just one win in the final nine matches, and were saved by a seven-match unbeaten run through February and March that 15 of their 36 points on the season.

Marseille finished the season with a 1-0 win over Montpellier thanks to a 58th minute Florian Thauvin strike, but it wasn’t enough as St. Etienne finished five points clear in fourth on 66 points, with Marseille on 61 in fifth, missing out on a Champions League place.